Tuberculosis infection control in health care facilities in Enugu State, Nigeria: a cross-sectional facility-based study

Abstract

Introduction: overtime, tuberculosis (TB) has remained the most common opportunistic infection among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Proper implementation of TB infection control (TBIC) practices in health care facilities can curb TB menace among PLHIV and the public. We assessed the implementation of TB infection control in health care facilities offering Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) in Enugu State, Nigeria.

Methods: we employed a cross-sectional research design and assessed TB infection control practices in nine States owned public health care facilities offering antiretroviral therapy (ART) services for PLHIV. A 23 item World Health Organization (WHO) checklist for infection control in health care facilities was used to collect data. We assessed the five minimum standards as well as the four sets of TB infection control (TBIC) measures. Frequencies, percentages and chi square statistic were used to analyze data.

Results: only four (44%) health care facilities that provides ART services studied in Enugu implemented TBIC practices. Higher proportion of the rural and secondary facilities implemented TBIC although the difference is not statistically significant (p>0.05). Implementation was better with the administrative controls while the personal protective equipment was almost non-existent.

Conclusion: less than half of the facilities offering ART services in the Enugu have TB infection control measures. We therefore recommend that in order to reduce TB infection among PLHIV, the issue of proper TBIC in health care facilities need urgent attention. Materials provision, staff training and retraining are issues that must be tackled to achieve the aim of reduction of TB infection among PLHIV, health care workers and the public.